Lincoln Tech to open trade school in Middletown
Learning a trade like automotive repairs or how to fix electronics can result in a good-paying job as there's a huge demand for skilled crafts personnel in the American economy.
So says Lincoln Educational Services, which wants to help meet that need in Bucks County. It plans to open a Lincoln Tech school for adult technical education at 311 Veterans Highway in Levittown at the end of next year.
The technical education firm, which has 22 properties in 14 states, received zoning variances from the Middletown Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday to refit the now vacant building, formerly used for information technology, to teach adults skills in automotive repair, electrical and electronics service, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) or welding. The courses will take about 12 months to complete.
Kimberly Trignano, vice president of real estate and risk management for Lincoln Tech, said the firm will install an automotive center, and other equipment to teach about 350 students in the four different trades. It needed variances to allow for an educational use in a commercial zone and to allow an educational use within a floodplain.
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The demand for workers skilled in these fields since the COVID pandemic has "skyrocketed," she said.
Trignano assured the zoners that the school would not have a noise impact on the surrounding neighborhood as all automotive repair training will be done inside the building.
"The shop cars stay in the facility," Trignano said. The school also won't need an oil disposal storage tank because the oil used in the training will be recycled, she said.
She estimated the school would employ 50 to 75 staff members for classes that include both day and evening sessions rotating throughout the year. She said it would take Lincoln more than a year to complete the purchase and renovations within the building and to acquire the licensing permits from the state Department of Education. She estimated the school would open in late 2024 to early 2025.
The vacant building is currently owned by 311 (Three) New Rodgers Associates LLC. of Fairfield, New Jersey, according to the Bucks County Board of Assessments.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Lincoln Tech plans to open trade school for adults in Middletown
